<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Family Christmas by vulcanhighblood</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041422">A Family Christmas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood'>vulcanhighblood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Discord: Umino Hours, Family Fluff, Gen, Gift Giving, Team as Family, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, Umino Iruka is a Good Dad, Uzumaki Naruto is a Good Friend</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:34:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is appalled to discover that Sasuke has never celebrated Christmas, and demands Iruka help him share the spirit of the holiday with his teammate - and their team's Jonin-sensei.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi &amp; Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Uzumaki Naruto, Umino Iruka &amp; Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Family Christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My eighth work in the Umino Hours Discord Server's Winter Bingo.<br/>Written for the prompt: The Gift of Giving</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Iruka was just finishing up the last round of homework, wishing desperately that the last week of school before New Years’ would be less rambunctious than last year had been, when he heard a soft knock on his apartment door. Rising with a grunt, Iruka shivered in the cold air of his apartment, a far cry from the cozy warmth of his kotatsu. He popped the front door open, only a little surprised to see Naruto standing outside, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, full of wiggly excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto?” Iruka said, surprised. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Iruka-sensei!” Naruto said with a wide grin. “Can I come in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Iruka said, pulling the door open a bit wider. “Do you want me to get your futon ready?” Over the last three years or so, Naruto had taken to spending the night at Iruka’s more and more frequently, to the point that Iruka had finally gone and picked up a second futon so that the boy had an actual bed of his own instead of being forced to share with Iruka. When he’d shown Naruto the bed, the boy had burst into happy tears before clinging to Iruka like a limpet for the rest of the evening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno, are you busy?” Naruto asked, peering around the corner to eye Iruka’s kotatsu, still piled high with grading.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never too busy for you,” Iruka promised. “I’ll go ahead and get that futon laid out.” He crossed the room to the closet, pulling out the futon and arranging it  beside the kotatsu. He only had one bedroom, and the room was scarcely large enough for Iruka’s futon, much less a second one. Instead, he’d taken to letting Naruto sleep next to the Kotatsu, tiptoeing around his sleeping form when he needed to make breakfast in the mornings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto helped Iruka wrap the sheets around the futon before flopping the heavy quilt on top of it. Once they were finished, Naruto crawled under the kotatsu with a contented sigh, only his head poking out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to overheat like that,” Iruka chided with a chuckle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iruka-sensei?” Naruto said, ignoring the comment. “Do you know what day it is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka frowned. “It’s… December twenty-third?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded thoughtfully. “Sakura said she was going to have fried chicken and cake for Christmas with her family. And I usually have Christmas dinner with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said, waiting to see where Naruto was going with this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And so I asked Sasuke what he usually does for Christmas, and he said he doesn’t do </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto practically wailed. “How sad is that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He can choose whether or not to celebrate, Naruto,” Iruka said, reaching over and ruffling Naruto’s hair sympathetically. “That’s his decision.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But he said he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> celebrated Christmas! So how does he </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> if he likes it or not if he’s never actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto wigged his torso out from under the kotatsu to rest his arms on the tabletop, gazing seriously at Iruka. “And then when I said it was terrible that Sasuke had never celebrated Christmas, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kakashi-sensei</span>
  </em>
  <span> said that he hadn’t celebrated christmas since he was thirteen!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka blinked slowly. “Naruto. I still fail to see how this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you get it?” Naruto shouted. “We gotta invite them over for Christmas! Look!” he dug in his pocket, pulling out a small coin purse. “I saved up my money from my D-rank missions, and I think we could use it to buy some extra fried chicken and a bigger cake, right?” He gazed pleadingly at Iruka. “And I already thought of a great present to get for Sasuke, and you could pretend that you bought it too-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka felt vaguely insulted that Naruto didn’t think he would go to the effort of buying his own present for Sasuke. “So you’re saying you want to invite Sasuke </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kakashi-san over so that they can experience Christmas with us?” and make no mistake, Christmas with Naruto was definitely an </span>
  <em>
    <span>experience.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Naruto stared at Iruka with big eyes and a wobbly lower lip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Groaning to himself, Iruka nodded. “Fine. Go ahead and invite them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! You’re the best, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto grinned, wiggling back under the kotatsu and falling silent for several seconds before finally saying. “I wonder what present I should get for Kakashi-sensei.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka resisted the urge to groan.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>After a long day of trying to herd his rowdy kids, the last thing Iruka wanted to do was herd rowdy Jonin at the mission desk. Alas, the jonin seemed to be feeling the holiday spirit in the air as much as his students, because they all seemed to be in rare form, turning in half-complete mission reports and giving Iruka big sad eyes when he told them on no uncertain terms that they would not be getting paid until they filled out their paperwork </span>
  <em>
    <span>properly.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>In fact, Iruka was so exasperated with riding herd on all the jonin that he didn’t immediately figure out why Kakashi had popped up at his desk when he didn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> a mission report to turn in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi said, setting one hand on the desk and leaning over to speak in a low tone. “I have a question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a question too,” Iruka shot back irritably, extending an open palm. “Where’s your mission report? If you don’t have one, please move along as you’re holding up the line.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Kakashi lifted his other hand to scratch awkwardly at the back of his neck, straightening up and standing upright before Iruka, shoulders slumped. “I just came to ask about… Christmas?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka blinked twice, staring at Kakashi for a solid fifteen seconds before remembering the previous night’s conversation with Naruto. “Oh, that! You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Naruto just got excited. He likes Christmas, and wants everyone else to like it, too. That’s all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still standing stiffly in front of Iruka’s desk, Kakashi’s ear was starting to turn pink as he said, “So it’s not a legitimate offer, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka fought the urge to gape at Kakashi. “I… I mean, if you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> to come, you can. I didn’t really expect you to be interested, but I know it would make Naruto really happy if you did…” he trailed off, gazing up at Kakashi, whose visible face had been growing progressively pinker as the conversation wore on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you’re okay with it, then,” Kakashi said. “He didn’t just spring it on you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He asked me first,” Iruka said. “And I’m fine with it. Does this mean you’re coming?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Kakashi shoved his hands deep in his pockets, shrugging his bony shoulders. “I guess so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, glad to hear it,” Iruka said warmly, before adding in a sharper tone, “Now get out of my line so I can actually finish my shift.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi beat a hasty retreat, and Iruka went back to chastising lazy jonin and enforcing the mission report protocols. He didn’t really think much about the conversation until later, as he was finishing up, realizing he hadn’t told Kakashi what time to come for dinner. Hopefully Naruto would pass that along, as it was now Christmas Eve and Iruka needed to pick up the fried chicken, the christmas cake, and go shopping for a christmas present for Kakashi and Sasuke (he’d already gotten Naruto something ages ago. In fact, he tended to randomly buy things for Naruto throughout the year and stuff anything not time-sensitive or perishable in a shoebox in the back of his closet. When Naruto’s birthday came along, Iruka would give him whatever had been accumulated in the box over the past few months. When Christmas arrived, he did the same. Right now Iruka had a set of gloves, scarf, and hat with a cute frog design on them, a first-aid kit to replace the one that was probably running out at this point, a “make your own instant ramen” kit he’d found about two weeks prior, and a few other odds and ends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what to buy for Sasuke and Kakashi? Iruka frowned at the market, thinking. Sasuke was a bit easier, as he’d been the boy’s teacher for awhile, so he decided to start there. Although it was a bit of a hassle, Iruka genuinely enjoyed looking for things to give to other people. He wasn’t exactly well off, but he tried to make sure the little things he bought were meaningful to the people who received them. Of course, the person he enjoyed giving to the most was Naruto - the boy had very few people in his life who took care of him or bothered to spend time with him, and even fewer people who bothered to get him gifts. Iruka always took great care to wrap every one of Naruto’s little presents individually so he could open several gifts on his birthday and at Christmas time. Usually Naruto would give Iruka something too - a cool rock, his favorite flavor of cup noodle, some cool stickers…  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka selected something small but hopefully useful for Sasuke and grimaced. Now, the challenging part of the shopping - trying to pick out something for Kakashi. Iruka ended up spending way too long in the market before finally finding something that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>hoped</span>
  </em>
  <span> would be decently appreciated. He barely had time to get back and wrap the presents before Naruto would be showing up, and he still hadn’t gotten the fried chicken or the cake yet! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fortunately, Iruka made it back before Naruto, and proceeded to wrap all the presents he had before setting them in a small pile on the kotatsu. He didn’t have a Christmas tree - no room for it - so he and Naruto would typically just pile the presents on the kotatsu. Frowning, Iruka considered the space. The kotatsu was barely big enough for two people, he wasn’t sure how they were going to fit two </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> people around it, but he was going to do his best. He plated up the fried kitchen, sticking it into the toaster oven to keep it warm, and tucked the christmas cake into the fridge before realizing that his apartment was still cluttered. He never really worried about it when Naruto was around - Naruto was Naruto, and he was always welcome in Iruka’s home, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kakashi,</span>
  </em>
  <span> a (mostly) functional adult, was coming, and Iruka hadn’t vacuumed in over a </span>
  <em>
    <span>week.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>So he started vacuuming. He’d gotten about halfway done with the vacuuming when Naruto arrived with Sasuke in tow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto crowed, eyeing the vacuum cleaner propped in the corner with curiosity. “Merry Christmas!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Merry Christmas, Naruto,” Iruka replied, shoving the vacuum cleaner back into the closet and shooting Sasuke a sheepish look, though the young boy didn’t seem to pay it any more mind than Naruto. A sideways glance and a shrug seemed to be the general consensus on Iruka’s vacuum cleaner, which he probably should have expected from preteen boys, but was a relief nonetheless. “Merry Christmas, Sasuke.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke grunted, taking off his shoes at the door and sending Iruka into a second spiral of anxiety as he realized he wasn’t sure he had enough house slippers for guests. His apartment was barely big enough for himself and Naruto, he’d never bothered to prepare anything for potential guests.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He needn’t have worried, though, because Naruto was taking out some truly outrageous slippers from the bag he had slung over his back. “Your first present!” He told Sasuke proudly, “Santa slippers!” and he deposited the bright red-and-white monstrosities on the floor. They were designed so that it looked like Santa Claus was trying to eat the foot of whoever wore the slippers, and Iruka was vaguely disturbed, wondering what the designer of said slippers had been thinking at the time they were created.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry,” Naruto assured Iruka, withdrawing some larger, reindeer-ish looking slippers, “I got some for you too, Iruka-sensei!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s very… sweet of you,” Iruka said, not really sure what to think of the monstrosities Naruto expected him to wear on his feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got some for Kakashi-sensei too!” Naruto continued in an excited tone, pulling out some Snowman slippers with top hats and carrot noses. “And of course, I got matching Santa slippers for me,” he said, slipping his feet into a matching pair of voracious santas. “I’ll just leave Kakashi-sensei’s slippers here,” Naruto said, before glancing nervously at Iruka. “I haven’t finished wrapping the presents yet,” he said. “Can I go wrap them in your room? Promise you won’t let Sasuke peek!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t let him peek,” Iruka said, though from the bland expression on Sasuke’s face, he doubted that the boy had any particular interest in peeking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great! I’ll be right back!” Naruto shouted, speeding across the room before coming to a stop and gazing at the pile of presents on the kotatsu. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “That’s so many presents!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, and there will be even more once you wrap yours,” Iruka teased. “Better get to it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Right!” Naruto resumed his beeline for Iruka’s bedroom, slamming the door with the exuberance of a child who had an excess of energy and no real sense of volume control. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka chuckled to himself, then turned to Sasuke. “Would you like some tea? Or hot cocoa with marshmallows?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tea is fine,” Sasuke said awkwardly, gazing at Iruka’s tiny kotatsu with practiced disinterest. The sparkle in his eyes wasn’t hidden as well as he thought, though, and Iruka felt a flush of pride that Naruto had decided to invite the boy over for Christmas. As much as Sasuke tried to hide it, the boy was clearly excited about celebrating Christmas, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, have a seat at the kotatsu,” Iruka waved in the direction of the thick quilt and tabletop piled high with gifts. “I’ll be right back with the tea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded, shuffling across the floor in his new santa slippers. Iruka glanced down at his own reindeer-clad toes before huffing in amusement and heading into the kitchen. He set the kettle on the stove to heat up, dumping a bag of tea into his teapot before returning to the main room.  “We’ll be having fried chicken and cake tonight,” he told Sasuke, “and I know you’re not fond of heavy foods, so I just wanted to let you know that you don’t need to feel like you should eat if it upsets your stomach.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke nodded slowly. “It’s fine. Thank you for welcoming me into your… home.” His eyes traced the narrow walls, a thoughtful expression on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka remembered, then, that Sasuke still lived in the large home of the late Fugaku Uchiha. He probably wasn’t used to such homely environs. Rather than allowing himself to be embarrassed, he rose to his feet, intending to head back to the kitchen and check on the kettle when he heard another knock at the door. “That’s probably-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-senseiiiiiiii!” Naruto whizzed by, a shrieking blur with a volume so pronounced Iruka could have sworn he experienced the doppler effect as the child flew by. Naruto threw open the door and shouted in his Jonin-sensei’s face. “You’re late!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not late,” Iruka chided, moving up to pat Naruto’s shoulder and pull him away from the door, smiling ruefully at Kakashi. “Come on in. Naruto has… slippers… for you,” he indicated the snowmen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi glanced at the snowmen, then looked at Iruka’s and Naruto’s equally corny slippers before huffing in amusement. “They look cozy,” he commented, slipping on the snowmen without complaint. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just making Sasuke some tea, would you like something?” Iruka asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tea is fine,” Kakashi said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can sit next to me at the kotatsu!” Naruto declared, then gasped. “Oh no, my presents! Iruka-sensei, did you let Sasuke peek?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka glanced over at Sasuke, who was sitting calmly at the kotatsu. He lifted a single eyebrow in Naruto’s direction. “I could have looked if I wanted to,” he said. “Guess you’ll just have to trust that I didn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sasuke, but retreated once more to Iruka’s bedroom, slamming the door more as a warning to Sasuke than anything. Iruka resisted the urge to laugh at the boy’s dramatics. Kakashi shuffled up beside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I don’t know where Naruto usually sits,” he said, indicating the kotatsu. “Do you have any insight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can sit here,” Iruka tapped the spot across the table from Sasuke. “Then Naruto can sit with both of you.” In the kitchen, the kettle began to sing, and he hurried in to pour the boiling water into his teapot, carrying it to the table, then going back for teacups, pouring the tea once he’d settled in his own seat. Inside Iruka’s bedroom, a lot of noise was happening for something as supposedly innocuous as </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrapping presents.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke glanced between Iruka and the bedroom door three times before finally asking, “Is that… normal?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka laughed. “He knows I’ll make sure he </span>
  <em>
    <span>cleans up whatever mess he’s making in there,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he emphasized the last part in a raised voice, and the loud noises quieted almost immediately, followed by a soft “</span>
  <em>
    <span>oops”</span>
  </em>
  <span> before the noise resumed, but at a reduced volume. About a minute later, Naruto sheepishly emerged from the bedroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll clean it up later, I promise,” he said quickly, before adding three lumpy packages to the pile on the kotatsu. “Is it time for fried chicken yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka eyed Naruto. “Have you washed your hands yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on Sasuke, I’ll show you where to wash our hands,” Naruto said, dragging Sasuke for the sink in the bathroom. Iruka rose and headed to wash his hands in the kitchen - he needed to be a good example. Kakashi joined him a moment later and washed his hands, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I help you take anything to the table?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that’d be great,” Iruka handed him a bowl of salad he’d thrown together by dumping two pre-mixed packages of lettuce into one container and tossing it with the salad tongs. “Can you take this to the table? And these,” he handed Kakashi the plate of fried chicken. “I’ll get the plates and silverware.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi took the food out to the kotatsu, and Iruka followed with plates and cutlery. The two boys were back in their seats by this time,  and Iruka realized that there wasn’t much room for plates with all the presents on the Kotatsu.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll move them,” Naruto said quickly, pausing to shake every one of the gifts with his name on them as he moved them into a small pile on Iruka’s bed, which appeared to have somehow become strewn with wrapping paper and ribbon since the last time he’d seen it. Once that was done, Iruka passed around the plates and they began serving up salad and fried chicken. Dinner was finished in short order, though both Sasuke and Kakashi picked the fried coating off their pieces of chicken. Iruka didn’t say anything, though Naruto bemoaned that they had “missed the best part” of the chicken. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After dinner, they sat and drank tea while Naruto grew more and more restless until finally he exploded. “Come </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span> Iruka-sensei! Let’s open presents!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All right,” Iruka said, “Go ahead and grab the presents while we clear the table.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi quickly rose to help, while Sasuke trailed after Naruto to help bring the presents back to the kotatsu. Once the dinner dishes had been deposited in the sink and the table had been wiped down, Naruto sat down at his seat, practically vibrating with excitement before he plucked the first of the poorly-wrapped packages from the pile and handed it to Sasuke. “Merry Christmas, Sasuke!” he exclaimed. “I hope you like it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked surprised. “…you… got something for </span>
  <em>
    <span>me?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly. “What kind of Christmas would it be if you didn’t get a gift?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shrugged at that, examining the package critically. “How did you wrap this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With </span>
  <em>
    <span>love,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto said proudly. “Iruka says that a package wrapped with love is more important than a beautiful package.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke shot Iruka a skeptical look. “Okay,” he said, then plucked at one of what had to be several layers of </span>
  <em>
    <span>packing tape</span>
  </em>
  <span> wrapped around the gift. Iruka wasn’t even sure where Naruto had </span>
  <em>
    <span>found</span>
  </em>
  <span> packing tape. At least it wasn’t duct tape…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iruka sometimes uses a kunai to open his,” Naruto informed Sasuke helpfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, who produced a kunai and handed it to him. To the boy’s credit, he was very careful not to do any damage to the package beyond nicking the edge of the tape so he could tear it off. He unwrapped the package and gazed down at the gift with a neutral expression for a long moment before glancing at Naruto. “How did you know?” he asked, looking surprised.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto grinned back at him, puffing his chest out with pride. “Hehe, I saw you look at it for a long time last week in the market when we were cleaning that old guy’s store! So I got it for you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke clutched the bundle of </span>
  <em>
    <span>whatever it was</span>
  </em>
  <span> to his chest. “I… thanks. Really.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Merry Christmas!” Naruto whooped, before shoving the next package at Kakashi. “Now it’s your turn!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi blinked down at the monstrosity of packing tape and wrapping paper before him. “You got me a gift?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that’s why I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>handing it to you,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto said with faint exasperation. “Merry Christmas!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi took the package, another kunai appearing in his grasp as he too flicked carefully at the tape, prying the package open to see… “A romance novel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re always reading those pervy books,” Naruto explained, “So I thought you might like it? The shop owner said it’s really popular.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi glanced up at Naruto with a smile, his eye crinkling in delight. “It’s wonderful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto beamed back at him, bouncing in his seat in delight before handing the last package to Iruka. It had not one but </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> bows, plastered down with an obscene amount of packing tape. Iruka couldn’t imagine a better gift, and he hadn’t even opened it yet. Kakashi set his kunai down in front of Iruka, so rather than fetch his own Iruka used Kakashi’s to pry open his own gift. Inside was a soft, warm scarf with the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ichiraku Ramen</span>
  </em>
  <span> logo embroidered into each end. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I asked Teuchi-san if it was okay to put that on the scarf,” Naruto said, “And I picked the softest one for you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love it,” Iruka told him, wrapping the scarf around his neck despite the fact that the room was already quite warm. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto grinned at him, then Sasuke, then Kakashi. “This is the best,” he exclaimed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke tilted his head in confusion. “But… you haven’t even opened your own presents yet,” he pointed out, indicating the large pile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Naruto said, his voice growing uncharacteristically quiet, “but I… for a long time, I didn’t have anyone to buy presents </span>
  <em>
    <span>for,</span>
  </em>
  <span> you know? And it’s just… </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> here his voice broke, and Iruka instantly scooted over to his side to gather the blonde boy up in his arms and hold him. Naruto clung back desperately, briefly burying his face in Iruka’s shirt, his voice muffled as he continued. “It’s nice to have people I care about. Who care about me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka patted his head, drawing him closer. After a moment, the boy drew back, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. “All right,” he said, his voice still quavering slightly. “I guess it’s my turn to open a present.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke coughed uncomfortably, digging into his pocket and withdrawing a small gift. “I wasn’t sure… anyway, it’s not much but…” he shoved it in Naruto’s direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto turned wide blue eyes on Sasuke. “You got </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span> a gift?” he exclaimed. “But you don’t even celebrate Christmas!”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, you invited me, so…” Sasuke hunched his shoulders. “It’s not much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was, however, much more nicely wrapped than Naruto’s gifts had been. Naruto tore into the package, opening the box and exclaiming, “Wow! This is great!” before throwing his arms around Sasuke and squeezing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke looked like he couldn’t decide whether he liked the hug or was uncomfortable, and Naruto released him from the embrace before he was able to make up his mind. “I’m glad you like it,” he said weakly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like it? I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love it!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Naruto exclaimed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasuke glanced away, his face pinking slightly. “Oh,” he said softly. “Good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The night continued from there, Kakashi revealing that he, too, had brought gifts for everyone. Christmas cake was picked at by Sasuke and Kakashi, and instantly devoured by Naruto. As the evening came to a close, Naruto saw Sasuke and Kakashi to the door, waving goodbye as the two of them headed out into the cold evening air. Naruto let the door fall closed, locking the deadbolt before turning back to Iruka with a tired smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was great, wasn’t it?” he said softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was,” Iruka said. “It was nice of you to invite them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you said I could,” Naruto admitted, following Iruka as they walked back into the living room, settling back down at the kotatsu. “I… I’ve never had people I cared about enough to get gifts for, you know? I didn’t realize how fun it would be, thinking about what they would like. I mean-” he glanced worriedly at Iruka, “I always like shopping for you, too. But it’s even more fun when you get to give things to </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> people. It feels… like a family,” Naruto added, twining his fingers, staring down at the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka settled down beside Naruto, circling his shoulders with one arm and drawing Naruto back against his chest. “I know what you mean,” he said softly. “Having more people feels a lot more lively.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope we can invite them to Christmas again next year,” Naruto said in a sleepy voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope so too,” Iruka agreed, before shaking Naruto’s shoulders slightly. “I also hope it doesn’t take too long to clean up that </span>
  <em>
    <span>disaster</span>
  </em>
  <span> in my bedroom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto stiffened, before glancing at Iruka with a guilty expression threatening to be overtaken by a mischievous grin. “Not too long, I don’t think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, why don’t you get started on that while I wash the dishes?” Iruka suggested. “Whoever finishes first sets up your futon in the living room.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay!” Naruto agreed, popping to his feet, rushing into the room before pausing and poking his head back out the door a moment later. “Hey Iruka-sesnsei?” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Naruto?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. And… Merry Christmas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Merry Christmas, Naruto.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Naruto ended up falling asleep on Iruka's bed before he finished cleaning up the wrapping paper. Iruka carried him out to his own bed and finished cleaning up himself.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>